Chapter 21: Healing Transaction, Using the Universal Syringe

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Healing Transaction, Using the Universal Syringe

Seeing the injured Nicholas Jensen, Seraphina Sullivan’s first thought was to grab her things and leave.

’Be a good person in the Doomsday Game?’

’She wasn’t that naive.’

Just as she was about to turn and leave, a weak voice suddenly rang out:

"Save... save me... I can... give you weapons..."

Nicholas dazedly watched the person who had appeared before him, his voice weak as he spoke.

He had used up too much of his Ability yesterday, and he had no way of Healing himself.

Right then, Nicholas really wanted to slap himself. ’It’s true what they say—get too arrogant, and reality will slap you with a harsh lesson.’

Seraphina stopped in her tracks.

"Provide weapons?" She remembered last night’s insane spectacle of explosions, and that F1 race car he had materialized.

’This guy’s Talent really does make him a mobile armory...’

Two voices began a fierce debate in her mind:

’Saving him is too dangerous! Who knows if he’ll turn on me once he recovers?’

’But he can provide heavy firepower! With weapons, even if I can’t use them in this instance, it’ll give me a better chance of survival in the next one...’

’He’s this badly injured right now, anyway. He won’t be a threat for a while...’ Seraphina grit her teeth.

In the end, she decided to save Nicholas Jensen.

She grabbed him by the collar and struggled to drag the man—who had passed out again after speaking—into a relatively intact nearby building.

"I’m exhausted..." Seraphina panted, dropping him on the ground and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

She scanned her surroundings, and after confirming it was temporarily safe, she immediately took out the [Universal Syringe] from her Space.

She had barely used this item since she’d gotten it.

After all, she rarely got injured herself.

But now, it finally had its use.

’First, stop the bleeding!’ Seraphina unhesitatingly activated the syringe’s [Quick Hemostasis] function.

The needle accurately pierced the area around Nicholas’s wound.

The moment the medicine was injected, the wound that had been gushing blood quickly coagulated, and the bleeding stopped.

’Pain relief next.’ She adjusted the syringe’s mode, switching to [Pain Paralysis], and injected it into his major wounds one by one, on his thigh, arm, and elsewhere.

Nicholas’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly, but he remained unconscious.

Seraphina stared at the gash on his thigh, so deep the bone was visible, and her own brow furrowed. ’If this wound isn’t stitched up, even with the bleeding stopped, an infection could still kill him.’

She took a deep breath. A Silver Needle materialized in her right hand, an Energy Silk Thread coiling around her fingertips.

"I never thought a Tailor’s Skills could double for a doctor’s..." She gave a self-deprecating laugh, then unhesitatingly plunged the Silver Needle into Nicholas’s flesh and began to sew!

SHHIIINK— The sound of the needle and thread piercing flesh was enough to set one’s teeth on edge, but Seraphina’s hand was steady as a rock.

The Silver Needle, carrying the Energy Silk Thread, darted rapidly through the wound, pulling the torn flesh together and stitching it shut, bit by bit, just as if she were sewing fabric.

"[Quick Sewing] is even more versatile than I thought. I can’t believe I found a new use for it," she murmured to herself, her hands never slowing.

Soon, the gruesome wound on Nicholas’s thigh was neatly stitched up. Although it still looked shocking, at least it was no longer exposed.

Finally, Seraphina raised the Universal Syringe again, activated the [Antibacterial Infection] function, and injected it into the stitched wound.

"Alright. Whether you live or die is up to you now," she said, putting away the Silver Needle and wiping the blood from her hands.

Nicholas’s breathing gradually stabilized, but his face was still frighteningly pale from blood loss.

Seraphina sat cross-legged to the side, glancing at him from time to time.

She hadn’t gone out to scavenge for supplies all day. ’If I can get some firearms out of this guy,’ she thought, ’it’ll be worth way more than a day of picking through junk.’

"Assuming this guy doesn’t die..." she muttered, then suddenly noticed Nicholas’s fingers twitch slightly.

At that moment, Nicholas was trapped in a chaotic dream.

In his daze, he saw his grandmother, who had been dead for many years, standing in a white mist. But instead of giving him a gentle smile, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

"What are you doing here so early?! Go on, get back!" The old woman’s rebuke vibrated painfully in his eardrums.

Nicholas clutched his face indignantly, but the shock of his grandmother’s slap jolted him awake.

He remembered the stupid thing he had done.

Relying on his [Mobile Doll] Talent, he had completed the mission to kill 100 parasitic monsters.

But his arrogant and conceited night raid on the Parasite Nest had nearly cost him his life.

If he hadn’t used his life-saving item, the Spherical Defense Pod, at the last second, on top of taking the [Body Transformation Pills] he was rewarded for killing the parasitic monsters, he’d probably be with his grandmother by now.

"Don’t play dead if you’re awake." A cool, clear female voice suddenly entered his mind, pulling him completely back to reality.

Nicholas struggled to open his eyes. Through his blurry vision, he saw a young woman with a high ponytail looking down at him.

The sunlight streamed in from behind her, outlining her in a golden halo. But the sight of the cold gleam of the Silver Needle in Seraphina’s hand reminded him that this was no Angel.

"Now, it’s time to talk about payment." Seraphina twirled the Silver Needle, its tip tracing a dangerous arc of light in the air. "You said you could provide weapons if I saved you, right?"

Nicholas managed a weak grin, revealing bloody teeth. "Miss... I’m an injured man right now... can’t you have a little pity..."

"Cut the crap." Seraphina was in no mood to be a saint.

She slammed a foot down on the floor next to him and pressed the Silver Needle to his throat. "See the stitches on your thigh? Since I was able to sew you up..." She pressed the tip down. "...I can just as easily take you apart."

Only then did Nicholas belatedly realize that the wounds torn open by the parasitic monsters all over his body had all been neatly stitched shut.

The stitches were fine and even, almost like a work of art—if you ignored the fact that they were in human flesh.

Even more strangely, he couldn’t feel much pain. His entire body was just completely immobile.

This was Seraphina’s first time using the [Pain Paralysis] function on the Universal Syringe. Unsure of the dosage, she hadn’t held back, and had maybe... injected a little too much.

Nicholas tried to move his fingers and found that only the tips could tremble slightly. The rest of his body still felt like it didn’t belong to him.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He remembered the "provide weapons" deal he’d promised before passing out, and a headache started to form.

"Miss," Nicholas said, forcing an earnest expression onto his face. "I’d love to honor our deal, but my Talent Ability is too depleted. I really can’t materialize any weapons right now... Once I’ve recovered, I promise I’ll give them to you!"

Seraphina stared at him, her expression blank. "..."

’An empty promise like that... No matter how you look at it, it sounds like he’s trying to back out of the deal!’

’If it’s not in my hands, it’s useless.’

"Oh, is that so?" Seraphina suddenly broke into a sweet smile, but the Silver Needle in her hand still glinted coldly. "Since you can’t give me weapons right now, I think all the time and medicine I’ve wasted healing and taking care of you should be exchanged for something else, don’t you?"

Nicholas suddenly had a bad feeling. "W-wait... what do you mean?"